Nintendo and Sony's gaming division have paused sales and shipments of software and hardware to Russia. The moves follow similar announcements from Microsoft’s Xbox division, Electronic Arts, CD Projekt, and Hitachi, all of which have severed various ties with Russia. More: - Sony has suspended operations of its Russian Playstation Store and the launch of “Gran Turismo 7” in the country.
- It said it's also donating $2M to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children to support victims of the Russian invasion.
- Nintendo has halted all exports to Russia "for the foreseeable future" and delayed the release of “Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp" for the Switch.
- The company also placed its Russia-based eShop under maintenance last week after its payment provider halted transactions in Russian roubles.
Zoom-out: - Last week, Microsoft suspended new sales of its products and services in Russia, including its Xbox hardware and games.
- "Cyberpunk 2077" maker CD Projekt, "Fornite's" Epic Games, and Electronic Arts have also blocked game sales in the country.
CNBC 
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Meta's VP of youth, Pavni Diwanji, has stepped down amid a restructuring as the company faces criticism about its adverse effects on young people. Diwanji previously oversaw the development of an Instagram for kids. She joined Meta in December 2020 and previously was a VP at Google, where she led Google for kids and family, among other initiatives. More: - Dozens of state AGs have placed pressure on Meta to abandon its plans for a kids' version of Instagram, which the company delayed indefinitely last year.
- A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the controversial project, which would create an Instagram for kids under 13, remains on pause.
- Meta is pursuing a "few organizational changes," the spokesperson said, adding that the company still prioritizes "safe, age-appropriate experiences for teens."
- Instagram announced new tools to keep young people safe, including "take a break" reminders and stricter recommendation guidelines, although it continues to face scrutiny among lawmakers and the public.
- Internal research at Instagram has found that the app can have deleterious effects on children, particularly teenage girls, The Wall Street Journal reported last year.
- The research found that Instagram made body image issues worse for one in three teen girls, and that many teens blame the app for anxiety and depression.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
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 Google is rolling out new Android features and updates as of today. Here are some of the most noteworthy: - Google Photos: Pixel users and Google One members will be able to use the portrait blur feature in more types of photos, such as pets and plants.
- Gboard: The keyboard's grammar correction will roll out to all Android users rather than just Pixel users. Google is also updating Gboard with 2,000 more emoji mashup stickers.
- Nearby share: Android 6+ users will be able to share photos, videos, and more with multiple people nearby at the same time.
- Google TV: It's getting a Highlights tab that aggregates shows, news, and reviews based on what a person watches.
- Pay for parking: Users will be able to use their voice to pay for parking in ParkMobile zones in 400+ U.S. cities. They can also check parking status and extend time using Google Assistant.
- Live Transcribe: The free speech-to-text transcription app will be updated to work in offline mode.
- Screen Time widget: The new widget shows the three apps a user spends the most time on in a day. Users can set daily timers for apps or pause them for certain time periods
THE VERGE
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Amazon's board has approved a 20-for-1 stock split that would make the shares cheaper and accessible to more investors. The last Amazon stock split occurred in 1999, during the dot-com boom. More: - Based on Wednesday's closing price, the 20-for-1 split would reduce an Amazon share price to around $140, down from upwards of $2,800.
- Shareholders would need to sign off on the plan, which would take effect in June.
- Splits can create more demand for a stock and enable companies to gain liquidity, according to CNN.
- Amazon said it will give its employees "more flexibility in how they manage their equity."
- Amazon's board also approved a $10B share buyback.
- The company's stock has dropped more than 16% this year amid a decline in the sector. It was the worst-performing of all the Big Tech firms.
Note: This content is for informational purposes only, and is not a recommendation of an investment strategy. BLOOMBERG
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NFT sales topped $17.6B in 2021, up from only $82.5M in 2020, a Nonfungible.com report shows. The 21,000% year-on-year increase highlights the exponential growth of the NFT market, which some speculate is in a bubble. More: - Profit made from buying and reselling NFTs jumped to $5.4B last year, from $12M in 2020.
- The most popular category was NFT collectibles, which racked up $8.4B in sales, followed by gaming NFTs at $5.2B.
- In 2021, the number of sellers increased nearly 3,700%, versus a 2,962% rise in the number of buyers.
- NFT sales peaked in August. They fell in September, October, November, and picked up in December.
- Nonfungible.com's trading estimate it lower than Chainalysis' appraisal of a $40B market in 2021, which could come down to Nonfungible.com's methodoloy and exclusion of wash trading and bot transactions.
- The NFT data company developed the report with BNP Paribas-owned research firm L’Atelier.
AXIOS
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 Magic Leap 2 Magic Leap unveiled a new augmented-reality headset geared toward enterprises in industries like health care and manufacturing. The once-hyped AR company pivoted from consumers to businesses in 2020, following poor sales of its Magic Leap 1, which came out in 2018. More: - The Magic Leap 2 was demoed to reporters this week and is expected to be launched publicly in late September.
- It's expected to cost $2,400+ and ship with an external computer.
- Compared to its predecessor, the headset has double the field of view, meaning people won't have to look up and down to view larger objects.
- It uses a semi-custom AMD chip rather than an Nvidia chip and open-source Android instead of a custom OS.
- Some noteworthy upgrades are selective dimming to darken the background and adjust the transparency of digital images, as well inside-out tracking in its controllers to track the wearer's movements.
- Magic Leap, a former tech darling that later struggled to stay afloat, has said it is open to the consumer market again if AR applications expand and the technology shrinks.
CNET
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- Nothing, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei's startup, announced a $70M funding round and a livestream event on March 23 to share its product roadmap. The company has released wireless earbuds and could announce a smartphone by next month.
- Microsoft is now testing a tabbed interface to the top of File Explorer on Windows 11.
- Volkswagen unveiled the new ID.Buzz electric microbus, which is expected to be available in Europe by Q3 and in the U.S. by 2024.
- Facial recognition company Clearview AI was fined €20M ($22M) in Italy and ordered to delete all of its biometric data of Italian citizens.
- Congressional action to regulate the issuance of stablecoins and oversee their reserves could come as soon as this month.
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 |  | Beth is an Inside Analyst and a former public policy/investigative reporter. She has covered AI, VR, technology, and e-commerce for Inside. When she's not busy writing, she's hiking in Arizona's desert, playing pickleball, or trying out new Mexican food recipes. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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